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Marvel’s New Warriors Won’t Air on Freeform

admingNovember 1, 2017Views 9

Marvel’s New Warriors is seeking a new home, due to Freeform being unable to find room its 2018 programming slate for the comic book-based TV series. The show revolves around a group of young superheroes who are on the cusp of adulthood and seeking to do good in the world, while dealing with the struggles of everyday life. The most buzzed about member of the New Warriors themselves is easily Doreen Green aka. Squirrel Girl, a fan-favorite Marvel character that Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us) is bringing to life on the small screen.

Cougar Town co-creator Kevin Biegel is serving as showrunner on New Warriors, which itself will be the first proper comedy series released by Marvel TV. Prior to New Warriors entering the pipeline, Marvel had begun development on a workplace comedy show in the form of Damage Control, but then folded that element of the Marvel Comics Universe into this summer’s film release Spider-Man: Homecoming instead. However, despite this unexpected change in home, New Warriors doesn’t appear to be destined to meet a similar fate.

Related: Who is Squirrel Girl?

Freeform picked up New Warriors straight to series earlier this year, but THR is confirming that the show is now being shopped around to other outlets. While there have been discussions about New Warriors premiering on Disney’s upcoming streaming service instead, THR‘s sources are cautioning that this is rather unlikely – not least of all because the Mouse House’s streaming service won’t launch until 2019, whereas Marvel is said to be keen on New Warriors premiering in 2018 (hence, its departure from Freeform).

Marvel Entertainment president Dan Buckley has issued the following statement, as further assurance that this announcement doesn’t mean New Warriors is being abandoned:

“We are extremely excited about Marvel’s New Warriors and look forward to finding the perfect partner to launch the series with in 2018.”

THR‘s source are also reporting that New Warriors is being developed as a series with the potential to give rise to multiple spinoffs, similar to Marvel’s various Netflix TV series. With Marvel’s Inhumans not expected to last beyond a single season and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. similarly expected to wrap up after its fifth season (which premieres this December), ABC may soon find itself without a Marvel TV show to call its own. New Warriors seems like it would be a good match for the network, in terms of tone and content, while ABC itself has an immediate connection to Freeform. Perhaps New Mutants (and any potential spinoffs) will end up calling that network home?

There are other possibilities too, including Hulu – which will be launching Marvel’s Runaways, later this month. New Warriors should certainly be closer in style and themes to Runaways than any of Marvel and Netflix’s street-level superhero series, making something like Hulu another logical fit for the show. It’s also plausible that Marvel will forge a partnership with a streaming service or network that doesn’t have a Marvel series of their own yet (a la Amazon), in order to continue expanding its reach and bring New Warriors to the small screen in the process. Whatever happens, an update on the situation should be arriving in the foreseeable future.